Federal Employees Union Bringing Proposals To The Table For Department Of Homeland Security Personnel System

WASHINGTON, DC—John Gage, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) issued the following statement in response to today’s news briefing by officials of the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Personnel Management:

“We are happy to hear that the collaborative design process for the Department of Homeland Security’s personnel system is progressing as planned by the participants. In advance of the deliberations scheduled for October 20-22, at which management and the unions that represent the rank and file who have become part of the new cabinet agency will sit down to hammer out the new system, AFGE will convene 60 of its Locals to ensure that the union’s objectives in the process are met,” Gage says.

Members of AFGE’s DHS Locals will come together next week at Baltimore’s Maritime Institute to engage in a three-day strategy session.

“AFGE remains committed to serving the interests of its members,” Gage continues, “and looks to Secretary Ridge to keep the promise he made to public employee unions on the day he was sworn in to his cabinet position. At that time he assured us that our members would retain their union rights, and that the unions would be full-fledged partners in crafting the personnel system for the new agency.”

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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 700,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.